Binding machine

ABSTRACT

A method and machine for automatically binding a stack of loose leaf sheets having at least one preformed aligned hole therein, by means of a plastic flanged post binder member extending through the hole, operates to form the binder member from a web of formable plastic material by cutting a piece of the web of desired length, forming the piece into a member having a C-shaped section, inserting the so formed member into the hole in the stacked sheets and forming flanges on the ends of the tubular member flush with the faces of the stack of sheets. Preferably the stack of sheets has three preformed holes and binder members are inserted into the two outer holes while the center hole is used for alignment reference purposes.

United States Patent my countryman Nov. 26, 1974 BINDING MACHINE [75] Inventor: Albert J. Countryman, Clayville,

[73] Assignee: Ty-Lok Assembly Systems, Inc.,

Utica, NY.

22 Filed: July 2, 1973 21 Appl. No.: 376,033

[51] Int. Cl. B42c 1/12 [58] Field of Search 281/21, 23; 11/1 [56] 1 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS IIIIIIII Primary ExaminerLawrence Charles Attorney, Agent, or FirmSughrue, Rothwell, Mion, Zinn & Macpeak [5 7 ABSTRACT A method and machine for automatically binding a stack of loose leaf sheets having at least one preformed aligned hole therein, by means of a plastic flanged post binder member extending through the hole, operates to form the binder member from a web of formable plastic material by cutting a piece of the' web of desired length, forming the piece into a member having a C-shaped section, inserting the so formed member into the hole in the stacked sheets and form- 'ing flanges on the ends of the tubular member flush with the faces of the stack of sheets. Preferably-the stack of sheets has three preformed holes and binder members are inserted into the two outer holes while the center hole is used for alignment reference purposes.

11 Claims. 16 Drawing Figures PATENTEL HSVZB I974 SHEET 2 0F 6 BINDING MACHINE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to binding machines, particularly a machine for automatically forming and inserting a plastic flanged post binder member into predrilled or prepunched holes in a stack of loose leaf sheets in order to bind the sheets together as a book.

2. Description of the Prior Art Loose leaf materials, having preformed holes are very widely used. One typical example is a catalog situation where various users have catalogues which require frequent updating and revision, and the manufacturer or supplier of the catalog desires to update or supplement the catalogs in the users possession with additional loose leaf sheets. At this point, there is a significant cost problem in transporting these loose leaf sheets through mail as ordinary packages, and with present postal regulations, it is much less expensive if the loose leaf sheets are bound together in a book, as the postal rate for books is much less than the postal rate for packages of separate loose leaf sheets. However, when the loose leaves are bound together as a book, it is then difficult or impossible for a catalog user to separate them for insertion into his catalog binder. In other words, the binding is permanent. One type of permanent book binding is a glued backing and for thick stacks of loose leaf pages, extremely large expensive machines, not available to catalog users, are needed in order to trim off the glued backing to separate the loose leaves. Other permanent bindings include stitching and staples. Both of these are not only permanent and have problems with removal, but also are limited to the thickness of the materials they bind.

The solution to the problem of permanent catalog page binding has been to use temporary bindings. Twist ties of the'hand-tied type have previously been manually inserted'through preformed holes in a stack of loose leaf materials in order to fonn them into books for shipment and allow the recipient to separate the pages by removing the twist tie. This is extremely costly, due to its manual operation, is messyand not automatically binding a stack of loose leaf sheets, having preformed and aligned holes therein. The binder member is a plastic flanged post which extends through at least one of the holes in the stack and preferably two, and the machine completely forms and installs this binder member from a flat web of fonnable plastic material. The machine includes a binding station where the stack of materials is fed to, held, aligned, positioned and clamped, and a series of components arranged to cut off a length of the web into a rectangular piece,

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the machine of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation view taken in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 1 and rotated to a horizontal plane;

FIG.-3 is a fragmentary perspective view of a corner of a stack of loose leaf sheets bound by the flanged post binder member;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the components for cutting the web and forming the so cut porneat, and is presently contrary to regulations of the US. Postal Service.

Up to now, the most commonly used temporary bindings are Chicago screws. This consists of a screw and asheath nut, the nut being the diameter of the hole and the screw threading into the nut, but this again is costly, time consuming and, while it can allow a bound book to be separated into the individual loose leaves, separation requires a'screw driver and some effort.

In general, there is need in the art for a binding for a relatively thick stack of loose leaves, which binding will be permanent enough to allow the loose leaves to be shipped through the mail as a book and yet be temporary and economical to allow the recipient of the book to destroy the binding to separate the individual loose leaves for insertion into his ringed backing. In addition, there is a need for an inexpensive machine and method for binding a stack of sheets with preformed holes automatically and inexpensively.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention provides a machine and method for tion into a part cylindrical member having C-shaped section;

FIG. 5 is an end elevation view partially in section of the components for cutting, forming, inserting and flanging the binder member to bind the stack of loose leaf sheets;

FIG. 6 is a front elevation view partially in section taken along line 66 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line 7-7 of 'FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line 8-8 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 8, illustrating the position of the components when forming the cut-off web piece around the mandrel;

FIG. 10 is an end view partially in section, similar to FIG. 5, showing the position of the components prior to insertion of the binder member within the stack;

FIG. 11 is an end elevation view partially in section,

similar to FIG. 10, showing the position of the components during insertion of the binder member into the hole in the stack of loose leaves;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view with a portion broken away showingthe forming die for forming the binder member into a part cylindrical form during its insertion;

FIG. 13 is an end elevation view with portions in section, similar to FIG. 5, showing the position of the components after the binder member has been inserted through the hole in the stack of loose leaf sheets with the top flange being formed thereon;

FIG. is a detail perspective view of a portion of the forming mandrel showing the shoulder thereon and the flat supporting side; and

FIG. 16 is a schematic circuit diagram of the pneumatic circuit for operating the components of the invention in sequence and automatically.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A binding machine 20, shown generally in FIG. 1, includes a binding station 22 at which a stack S of loose leaf sheets are bound The binding machine includes an inclined table 24 along which the stack S slides by gravity as the stack is referenced by a side guide 26 and stopped by a movable stop 28 which is movable into and out of the plane of the inclined table 24.

At the binding station 22, there is an aligning means 30 for positively aligning the stack S at the binding as it is stopped at the binding station by means to be described, and clamping means 32 for clamping the stack. On top of the binding machine 20, there is an adjusting handle 34 for adjusting the machine to accommodate varying thickness of the stack S.

Referring to FIG. 3, the stack S has preformed holes H therein, for example three predrilled holes to accom-- modate the sheets in loose leaf binders, by the ultimate users. The binding machine and method of this invention inserts a binder member B in at least one, and preferably two, of the predrilled or prepunched holes H in the stack S. The binder member B is formed from a rectangular piece of formable plastic material which has been cut to a desired shape by cutting off a predetermined length from a web. The length is chosen to provide sufficient material to form the binder for the thickness of the stack S to be bound. The material is formable at room temperature to form the binder post and one such material is made by B. F. Goodrich, under the trademark VINALOY, a vinyl plastic material. The binder member B is formed with a cylindrical center portion B which is not a complete cylinder but has an open section as shown in FIG. 3. Flange members B, are formed at the ends of the binder posts adjacent the faces of the stack as shown in FIG. 3. These flanges on the post of the binder member B hold the stack through the holes so securely that the stack S of loose leaf sheets becomes in effect a bound book. On the other hand, if the user of the bound book desires to separate the sheets of the bound stack, all he needs to do is take a knife and cut the binder member B. The material from which the binder member B is formed is in the form of a web W unwound from a reel of such material, not shown.

As shown in FIG. 2, the machine is fed with two webs W and two binder posts are formed, one for each of the outside holes of the three predrilled holes H in the stack S. Since each of the binder member cut-off and forming assemblies is identical on each side of a center line in FIG. 2, only one will be described.

Each web is fed by a feed means 36 and cut off to provide a rectangular piece of a desired length by cut off means 38. Then, a forming means 40 forms the part cylindrical body or post section B, of the binder and the binder member is inserted into the hole H as a part cylindrical post and lastly the two flanges B are formed one after another as will be described.

The aligning means 30 includes an aligning pin 42 movable vertically by an aligning pin cylinder 44 mounted on a support bar 46. A bushing 47 in the inclined table 24 holds the lower end of the alignment pin 42 after it is extended vertically downwardly. The aligning is shown in FIG. 2 wherein the stack S abuts against the stop 28 and the cylinder 44 has driven the aligning pin 42 through the central hole H in the edge of the stack and extends into the bushing 47.

The clamping means 32 includes two clamping cylinders 48 mounted in the support bar 46 at a position to clamp the stack S down against the table surface 24 directly above the outer two holes H, FIG. 2. The clamping operation is shown in more detail in FIGS. 10 and 11 to be described hereinafter.

The feed means 36 includes a pair of guide rollers 50 carried by bracket 51, see FIGS. 2 and 6. These rollers guide the web to a pair of feed clamping bars 52 which carry pneumatic clamping cylinders, not shown, and move toward one another to clamp a portion of the web therebetween, see FIGS. 5 and 6, as well as FIG. 2. The clamping bars are movable vertically by means of a cylinder 54 having a piston rod 56 to which the clamping bars are attached. Movement of the piston rod 56 vertically upwardly as shown in FIG. 2, of course, moves the web W vertically upwardly when the clamping bars are clamped onto the edge of the web as shown in FIG. 6. A pair of feed holding bars 58 are positioned above the feed clamping bars in order to hold the web after it has been fed. These also carry a pair of air cylinders for clamping the web therebetween; the air cylinders are not shown. These feed clamping bars 58 are shown in FIGS. 2, 5 and 6. The entire feed assembly is a commercially available, purchasable item, and the details thereof do not form a part of this invention. The feed means 36 are mounted on an adjustable support such that the amount of web fed to the cut off means 38 may be adjusted depending on the thickness of the stack S by adjusting the handle 34.

Referring now for more detail of the cut-off means 38, reference is had to FIGS. 4, 5 and 6. A stationary platen 60 is fixed to the frame of the machine and includes a narrow slot 62, just larger than the cross section of the web W. A cut-off knife 66 slides over the top surface of the platen 60 in a direction from right to left, as shown in FIG. 5, in order to cut the desired length of web fed above the point of cut off. The cut-off knife 66 is carried for its cutting movement by block 68. Block 68 is moved horizontally, as shown in FIG. 5, by cylinder 70 mounted on frame member 72 and having a piston rod 74 with an end connected 76 for floating movement by means of member 76 being loosely held to block 68 by plate 78.

Block 68 has a slot 80 in its bottom surface with a configuration corresponding to the top configuration of knife 66, so that the knife fits therein and is carried in a reciprocating manner from left to right as viewed in FIG. 5, but the knife itself may also slide horizontally in a transverse plane, as shown in FIG. 6. The sides of the block 68 are bound and confined by side members 82 and 84 attached to each side of the platen 60. The block 68 has projections 86 which are guided in slot 88 of side member 82. A stop 90 is provided to stop the movement of the block 68 from right to left as viewed in FIG. 5.

The binding machine further includes an axially reciprocable mandrel 92, mounted on a movable block 94, which is movable by means of a piston rod 96 of a cylinder 98. The mandrel extends through a hole 100 in platen 60. The mandrel itself is formed with a bullet nose tip 102, and a flat side 104 but is otherwise cylindrical, slightly less than the diameter of the hole H. The mandrel further includes a step 106 between two diameter sections, see FIG. 15.

The flat side 104 of the mandrel slides on a projection 108 of a backing block 110. The backing block 110 also includes a rearwardly extending projection 112 and is backed up by a stationary member 114 having a slot 116 therein for guiding projection 112. A spring 118 is positioned as shown in FIG. 5 to bias the backing block 110 and the parts it carries downwardly against a stop 119 threaded in member 114.

A forming die 120 is secured to the top of the backing block 110, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. The forming die 120 has two die surfaces. There is a lower die surface 122, see FIGS. 5 and 12, for forming the plastic member from a U-shaped section to a part cylindrical section and there is an upper annular cup-shaped die surface 124 for forming the bottom flange on the binder post.

The cut-off knife 66 includes a pin 126 which extends into a cam slot 128. It also includes a cut-out 130 of a shape to accommodate the mandrel.

The front edge surface of block 68 includes a configuration, shown in FIGS. 4, 8 and 9, with a slot having edge flanges 132 for holding the cut-off web and a U- shaped die slot 134 for forming the web over the mandrel 92.

In the cut-off operation, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the cut-off knife 66 is driven by the block 68 past the slot 62 in the platen, thereby cutting the web W into a short rectangular piece. The piston rod 74 continues to move to the left as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, and the cutoff web W is held in the flanges 132 of the block 68. Meanwhile, the knife 66 is shifted transversely by pin 126 in groove 128. As the piston rod continues to drive the block 68 to the left, as shown in FIG. 9, and the mandrel 92 has its flat side 104 resting against projection 108 on backing block 110, the piece of web W will then be formed, U-shaped in section as shown in FIG. 9, by means of the forming die slot 134 in block 68, as it moves over the mandrel 92 resting on projection 108. Thus, the cut-off piece of web is formed into a piece U- shaped in section.

The cylinder 98 is then operated to cause the mandrel to move'vertically upward as shown in FIG. 10.

The stack S has been clamped by clamping cylinder 48 which is a pneumatic cylinder and has a removable and replaceable annular die surface 136 over the hole H in the stack S. The step 106 abuts the lower end of the now U-shaped web W and'causes the web to move with the mandrel vertically upwardly. The backing block 110 is held stationary by spring 118 and the extending edges of the U section of the member are formed by die surface 122 of die 120 into the part cylindrical shape as it is being inserted in the hole. This operation is shown in FIG. 11, see also FIG. 5.

As the mandrel continues its vertical upward movement, carrying with it and simultaneously forming the plastic from U-shaped section to part cylindrical section, it moves from the position of FIG. 11 to the position shown in FIG. 13, in which the upper end of the part cylindrical member emerges from the top of the stack and abuts against the annular die 136 carried by the end of clamping cylinder 48 and forms the flange B on the binder at the upper surface of the stack. Continued movement of the mandrel causes the lower end of the part cylindrical binder post member to clear the upper die surface 124 of die 120. Further upward movement of the mandrel causes block 94 to contact the bottom of backing block as shown-in FIG. 14 and since block 110 carries die 120, it will cause that die to move upward and form the lower flange B I on the binder post by means of the annular dish-shaped die 124 on the top of die 120. This last forming movement is against the bias of spring 118 and raises projection 112 off of stop 119 overcoming clamping pressure on clamp cylinder 48, forcing the piston upward where it bottoms out in the cylinder housing. Cylinder 98 continues to apply force for final forming and squeezing of the binder flanges B,. As the mandrel returns to its initial postion shown in FIG. 10, the other components return to their initial positions to repeat the process of forming the binder post B from the cut-off rectangular piece of web W.

FIG. 16 shows the operation of the pneumatic circuit for causing all of the-operations to occur in the desired sequence. When a stack of sheets S is in position at the binding station, bleed sensor 136 senses it, operates amplifier 138 applying line pressure through shuttle valve 140 to switch the position of four-way valve 144, thereby applying pressure through line 146 moving the piston of cylinder 44 downwardly and driving the alignment pin 42, FIG. 2, down through the center hole of the stack for alignment purposes. As the piston goes down, it trips the valve 147 and shifts it, applying pressure from line 148 to line 150 shifting four-way valve 152, which in turn applies pressure through line 154 to the top of cylinders 72 which drive blocks 68 forwardly to cut and form the webs into U-shaped sections as shown in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9. At the same time, this pressure through line 154 shifts cylinder 156 retracting the stop 28. The catalog is aligned and clamped, as the pressure continues through line 157, line 158 to the clamp cylinders 48, causing them to move downwardly and clamp the stack as shown in FIG. 10. Pressure through line 160, and through line 161 caused by the cylinders 72 to be at the end of their stroke, shifts valve 162 and allows pressure to shift four-way valve 164, applying pressure through line 166 to the bottom of the mandrel cylinders 98, moving the mandrels upwardly from the position of FIG. 10 to the position of FIG. 11 and then to the position of FIG. 13. After the mandrels form the bottom flange B as shown in FIG. 14, the bleed sensor 168 on the clamp cylinder 48 is restricted, shifting valve 170, applying pressure through lines 172 and 174 to shift valve 152 back to the position shown. This causes pressure to be applied to line point 176 forcing the pistons in cylinders 72 back to their original position, shifting valve 144 and forcing the piston of cylinder 44 back to its original position, causing pressure through line 177 to lift the piston of the clamp cylinders 48, shifting valve 164 back to its position shown, causing the mandrel cylinders to drop the mandrels to their original position, The circuit is then back in its original condition to start the cycle again.

I claim:

1. A machine for automatically binding a stack of loose leaf sheets having aligned preformed round holes therein by means of a plastic flanged post binder member extending through at least one of the holes and formed from a flat web of formable plastic material, the machine comprising:

a. a binding station,

b. means for aligning the stack of loose leaf sheets at the binding station,

c. means for clamping the aligned stack of loose leaf sheets at the binding station,

d. cut-off means for cutting off a length of the flat web of plastic material required to form the flanged post member,

e. forming means for forming the cut of length of plastic material into a part cylindrical tubular form, C-shaped in section,

f. inserting means for inserting the so formed binder member into a hole of the clamped aligned stack, and

g. flange forming means for forming flanges on both ends of the cylindrical tubular form binder member flush with the opposite faces of the stack of loose leaf materials.

' 2. A machine as defined in claim 1 further comprising adjustable web feed means for adjusting the length of web fed by the cut-off means in accordance with the thickness of the stack of loose leaf materials to be bound.

3. A machine as defined in claim 1, wherein the forming means include a mandrel and a first laterally movable die with a U-shaped die surface to form the cut-off piece of plastic into a U-shaped channel, and a mandrel enclosing die which upon movement relative to the mandrel forms the U-shaped channel into the part cylindrical tubular form of C-shaped section.

4. A machine as defined in claim 3, wherein the inserting means include means for moving the mandrel axially, means carried by the mandrel for carrying the part cylindrical form binding member axially, and mandrel guides for guiding the mandrel and part cylindrical form binding member carried thereby into the hole in the stack of loose leaf materials.

5. A machine as defined in claim 4, wherein the flange forming means comprises annular face dies positioned on opposite sides of the stack of loose leaf materials.

6. A machine as defined in claim 5, wherein one of said dies is carried by the mandrel and the other of the dies is a portion of the clamping means.

7. A machine as defined in claim 1 further comprising an automatic pneumatic circuit for operating the aligning means, clamping means, cut-off means, forming means, inserting means and flange forming means in predetermined sequence.

8. A machine as defined in claim 1, wherein the aligning means includes a locater pin of the same diameter as one of the holes in the stack of loose leaf materials.

9. A machine as defined in claim 1, wherein the ma chine inserts at least two binder members in two holes of the stack of loose leaf materials.

10. A machine as defined in claim 1, further comprising an inclined surface extending through the binding station and a stop with sensing means carried thereby for stopping a stack of loose leaf materials sliding down the inclined surface and sensing the presence of the stack at the stop.

11. The method of binding a stack of loose leaf sheets having aligned at least one preformed round hole therein by means of binder posts extending through the hole, the method comprising:

a. forming a flat rectangular piece of formable plastic material into a part cylindrical binder member of C-shaped section having an outside diameter slightly less than the diameter of the preformed hole,

b. inserting the so formed binder member into the preformed hole in the stack so that a portion thereof extends from both faces of the stack,

c. forming flanges on the binder member extending the stack adjacent both faces of the stack. 

1. A machine for automatically binding a stack of loose leaf sheets having aligned preformed round holes therein by means of a plastic flanged post binder member extending through at least one of the holes and formed from a flat web of formable plastic material, the machine comprising: a. a binding station, b. means for aligning the stack of loose leaf sheets at the binding station, c. means for clamping the aligned stack of loose leaf sheets at the binding station, d. cut-off means for cutting off a length of the flat web of plastic material required to form the flanged post member, e. forming means for forming the cut of length of plastic material into a part cylindrical tubular form, C-shaped in section, f. inserting means for inserting the so formed binder member into a hole of the clamped aligned stack, and g. flange forming means for forming flanges on both ends of the cylindrical tubular form binder member flush with the opposite faces of the stack of loose leaf materials.
 2. A machine as defined in claim 1 further comprising adjustable web feed means for adjusting the length of web fed by the cut-off means in accordance with the thickness of the stack of loose leaf materials to be bound.
 3. A machine as defined in claim 1, wherein the forming means include a mandrel and a first laterally movable die with a U-shaped die surface to form the cut-off piece of plastic into a U-shaped channel, and a mandrel enclosing die which upon movement relative to the mandrel forms the U-shaped channel into the part cylindrical tubular form of C-shaped section.
 4. A machine as defined in claim 3, wherein the inserting means include means for moving the mandrel axially, means carried by the mandrel for carrying the part cylindrical form binding member axially, and mandrel guides for guiding the mandrel and part cylindrical form binding member carried thereby into the hole in the stack of loose leaf materials.
 5. A machine as defined in claim 4, wherein the flange forming means comprises annular face dies positioned on opposite sides of the stack of loose leaf materials.
 6. A machine as defined in claim 5, wherein one of said dies is carried by the mandrel and the other of the dies is a portion of the clamping means.
 7. A machine as defined in claim 1 further comprising an automatic pneumatic circuit for operating the aligning means, clamping means, cut-off means, forming means, inserting means and flange forming means in predetermined sequence.
 8. A machine as defined in claim 1, wherein the aligning means includes a locater pin of the same diameter as one of the holes in the stack of loose leaf materials.
 9. A machine as defined in claim 1, wherein the machine inserts at least two binder members in two holes of the stack of loose leaf materials.
 10. A machine as defined in claim 1, further comprising an inclined surface extending through the binding station and a stop with sensing means carried thereby for stopping a stack of loose leaf materials sliding down the inclined surface and sensing the presence of the stack at the stop.
 11. A method of binding a stack of loose leaf sheets having aligned at least one preformed round hole therein by means of binder posts extending through the hole, the method comprising: a. forming a flat rectangular piece of formable plastic material into a part cylindrical binder member of C-shaped section having an outside diameter slightly less than the diameter of the preformed hole, b. inserting the so formed binder member into the preformed hole in the stack so that a portion thereof extends from both faces of the stack, c. forming flanges on the binder member extending the stack adjacent both faces of the stack. 